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Queen cells and virgins

Hey everyone. We are having cells that are not hatching well this spring. We even put cells in that where fixing to hatch. You could see her crawling around in the cell and still the take wasn't good. Anyone else having these problems

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Ga. beeman. I am getting calls from all over the place for queen replacement. it seems there is a big issue this year. I made 26 Nucs in Florida adding a queen cell, a couple of weeks ago and they were checked just yesterday. Only 50 percent hatched. the remainder died. We took them from the producer, to the grove, and made the split within a couple of hours.

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Originally Posted by matt1954

Ga. beeman. I am getting calls from all over the place for queen replacement. it seems there is a big issue this year. I made 26 Nucs in Florida adding a queen cell, a couple of weeks ago and they were checked just yesterday. Only 50 percent hatched. the remainder died. We took them from the producer, to the grove, and made the split within a couple of hours.

Hey Adam yes we had nights that got down into the mid 30s. Hey Matt that is exactly what I am seeing.some of the ones that didn't hatch hadn't been removed at all. 50 percent on one graft. Very disappointed in that. Hard to get a nuc going without a good cell

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Cold weather will, most definitely, delay their hatching. Look very closely at those on the outside fringes. The cells should have the jelly consumed and be very firm by 10 days after grafting. If you are seeing a queen moving, then they will most likely be fine, just delayed a bit.

"People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe."- Andy Rooney

Re: Queen cells and virgins

I have had about 50% success this year with queen cells developing into a laying queen. I have heard from others in Florida with the same results. The wind and cold in March really had an impact. I made 40 splits 3-15, during the Orange bloom using my own queen cells and had to re- cell 30 splits and add a frame of brood to each of them on 4-10. I am crossing my fingers for a better take this time. I also have some virgins that you can find in the hive and look beautiful, but are not laying after 15 days from introducing the cell.

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Just checked a nuc that had a cell installed on 3-29 and I saw the virgin 4-12 with no eggs or brood. Today I opened the lid of that nuc and saw a pile of bees in the center on top of the top bars of 3 frames. I moved the bees a little with a stick and saw the virgin being piled up on by hundreds of bees. They did not seem to be hurting her just piling up on her. I closed the lid and did not disturb them. Any ideas from anyone?

Re: Queen cells and virgins

J, Last summer I had a queen hatch in my observation hive that was slow to leave the hive and mate. Three times I watched the bees "dog pile" on her for at least 8 -10 minutes each time before she could wiggle out and run away. Several days after she should have left on a flight, she did. Upon her return to the hive, the bees treated her totally different - more like a queen with the attentents around her in a circle.
It was great to watch, but scared the hell out of me the first couple of times I saw it! I believe the bees were trying to force her to leave the hive to mate. They had been treating her just like any other worker bee , up to the "dog Pile" time.

Re: Queen cells and virgins

I will check her in a few days. I sure hope she makes it.She was grafted from a survivor hive that is 15 years old on a ranch property that I own. Her genetics should be real strong. It was a fairly large job to cut down the survivor hive to get larva the correct age to graft. We had 60 cells built from over 100 grafts in a super strong starter colony. I want the genetics in my hives.

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Well I checked her today along with another Nuc with a cell from the same graft. I found both Queens. They are both healthy looking and moving around normally. I have had a one gallon feeder on them for two weeks. The workers are storing sugar syrup in the comb. No brood, eggs, nothing. This cell was 10 days old on 3-29. So she is almost one month in the hive after emerging on 3-30. I guess I will give them another week. The hive is calm and appears queen right from their actions. Plenty of pollen, honey and sugar water .

Re: Queen cells and virgins

Originally Posted by Jgabbert

Finally success. Both queens are laying. One has half a frame of brood in just the last few days. I guess you can't rush nature.

Consider your bee math but this year abnormal. It is snowing in May as i type, thats Kansas weather i gues. This year is different, for sure. Only a year old bee keeper but a native to the land since birth. Make a log, it is different.